Malaprop's hosts writers on John Singer Sargent, African shamans

This page is provided exclusively to Scene each week by staffers at Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe, 55 Haywood St., Asheville. To learn more, call 828-254-6734 or visit malaprops.com. The events described here are free.

'Sargent's Women'

Right now there’s a John Singer Sargent exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago that runs through September. The exhibit, titled “John Singer Sargent and Chicago’s Gilded Age,” will be all the more meaningful after reading Donna M. Lucey’s book, "Sargent’s Women: Four Lives Behind the Canvas."

Yes, closer to home, the Biltmore Estate has five Sargents on public display. George Vanderbilt was a patron and friend to the painter. Sargent’s work is evocative and provocative, which adds to the interest in his subjects, especially women such as Elizabeth Chanler (on the book's cover), Sally Fairchild, Belle Gardner and Elsie Palmer who are the focus of the book.

The author describes herself as a detective whose work in the archival record — such as letters, diaries, photographs, memoirs and other ephemera — will recover the “inner landscapes” that Sargent so deftly hinted at in his portraits. Lucey’s journey into their papers took eight years. It’s a wonderful challenge for her to reconstruct lives from the residue left behind.

It’s also a testimony to Sargent’s skill as a painter that he could render the twinkle in the eye or the slyness in the upturned mouth.

The lives of the rich and indulgent make for an engaging read because they are the celebrities of the Gilded Age. They were women about town who, in their own ways, challenged the strictures of social conventions. Is that what Sargent observed in them: the hint of their secrets? The strain against the Victorian Era’s version of the double standard?

Donna M. Lucey

Donna M. Lucey

Henry Wiencek/Courtesy of Malaprops

Lucey uncovers many of those secrets, and we can see these women with fresh eyes. They almost step off the flat canvas. Now we’ll look at any portrait, whether in Asheville or Chicago, and perhaps pause longer to think about when we don’t know.

Lucey will be in conversation with Denise Kiernan, author of "The Last Castle," at 6 p.m. Aug. 14. —Patricia Furnish, Bookseller

'Sacred Messengers'

At a time when people all over the world seem to be divided by every possible identity and ideology, a return to the wisdom of timeless, tribeless Mother Earth feels like pressing a reset button.

That connection to nature is why so many of us make the mountains our home. Perhaps it’s wise to expand our local vision to include the wisdom from other places too.

"Sacred Messengers of Shamanic Africa"

"Sacred Messengers of Shamanic Africa"

Courtesy of Malaprop's

In their new book, "Sacred Messengers of Shamanic Africa: Teachings from Zep Tepi, the Land of First Time," local writer and creator of the Shaminic Breathwork Process, Linda Star Wolf and co-author Carley Mattimore, a shamanic psychotherapist, take us on a journey to experience the heart of the White Lions of Africa.

The book is part memoir and part travel memoir as well as a resource about Africa’s spirit animals and what they can teach us about personal and societal healing. At its heart, it is a sharing of wisdom and an invitation to return to nature.